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New technologies which can facilitate English learning are taken into use frequently though, the influence of a teacher can not be replaced. The example set by a teacher and the influence of their personal qualities are irreplaceable. A teacher’s personal qualities usually have a far reaching and suggestive impact on the development of the students’ learning. Among various personal qualities, three are particularly important for English teachers. Patience Patience is required for all English teachers. They deliver new vocabulary, grammar, and other language concepts in the classroom, arrange suitable activities for each lesson topic, and build them into an effective lesson structure. During the language learning process, it is inevitable that the students will make errors in terms of grammar, pronunciation and spelling. Teachers are expected to assist the students to spot their errors and to elicit the right use of English. This could be a repetitive process since some learners might be a bit slow due to poor learning experience, low motivation and anxiety. So the teachers should be patient enough to encourage and help them. In addition, some disciplinary problems can occur in the classroom. It is important for the teacher to keep a balance between exercising control and encouraging a friendly atmosphere conductive to learning. All these efforts need to be done with great patience. Flexibility Learners of English are different in various aspects, such as age, culture, language level and motivation for learning. All these aspects could have an influence on their learning process. During teaching, good teachers should pay attention to the specific situation of the students and switch their roles as manager, tutor, facilitator or other roles accordingly. What’s more, teachers should be flexible to adopt appropriate teaching methods considering the size of the class, the language level of students, language topics and different phases of teaching. For example, pictures and mimes are usually suitable for engaging the students in a lesson while discussion and debate are often held to activate what has been taught. As learning of English is a dynamic process with various participants, English teachers should always be flexible to deal with problems occurred during teaching. Cultural Awareness No language can be separated from its culture as it plays an important role in transmitting its culture. When students learn English, they don’t just learn vocabulary and grammar, but also cultures of English speaking countries. Therefore, English teachers should have sharp cultural awareness and explain cultural differences behind languages to the students. Take Chinese and English as a pair of examples. Chinese philosophy puts more emphasis on unity, which takes nature and human beings as a whole. Therefore, Chinese is parataxis, containing less conjunctions. However, characterized by a strong sense of logic, English is hypotaxis. Conjunctions are often used in English, which is a difficult part for students from China. In order to help the students to gain a better understanding of English and learn the language more effectively, it is important that English teachers have the ability to raise the students’ cultural awareness as well. In all, patience, flexibility and cultural awareness could always be found in a good English teacher to ensure an effective lesson. Since the attitude the teacher comes into class with will have a profound effect on the learning of the students, teachers should always demonstrate these three personal qualities.
